Zuma: The time has come to act on the issue of land
President Jacob Zuma told the National House of Traditional Leaders in Parliament on Friday, that the issue of land lies at the heart of Africa’s problems.
He spoke at the official opening of the House.
“We have political power, we can vote and make laws but the economy is not in our hands. We are not in control of economic power - and the critical element of the economy is the land. The time to write about this and analyse has passed, it’s time to take action,” Zuma said.
Zuma said black South Africans cannot afford to engage in arguments around the land issue.
“If we argue and disagree as black Africans about the land matter, if we do so we will not be gathering our strength and this will take us back to when the land was taken from us. We need to be united on this matter,” he said.
He said government has identified the weaknesses in the land restitution and redistribution programmes.
“The willing-buyer willing-seller method made the state a price in an unfair process. In addition, there are too many laws dealing with land reform which causes confusion and delays. You can claim land today and by the time your people get it you will be dead,” he said.
He says when land is made available it should to produce food.
“Government has committed to supporting black smallholder farmers. We have realised we did not do it properly in the beginning, we asked people whether they needed land or money, and because money is the root of all evil, they said yes and by the time they got it was peanuts and made no impact,” Zuma said.